Ocado and Lidl retained their position as the fastest-growing retailers, with sales growing 14.3% and 11%, respectively, in the four weeks to October 4.

According to the latest figures from the NIQ, M&S also performed strongly, with sales increasing by 10.4%.

Supermarket retailers Sainsbury’s and Tesco experienced sales growth of 5.3% and 4.7%, which was driven by loyalty programmes.

Asda’s sales continued to decline, decreasing by 5.1%, which was affected by promotional activity in September, which reduced average spend per visit.

Convenience retailer Co-op’s sales reduced by 2.8%, which was below the average amount where industry growth was at 0.1%.

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Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at NielsenIQ, said: “It looks like many households have pressed the reset button after the summer. Shoppers are buying less, with unit sales across the total store down -0.5%, and value growth remains below food inflation.

“So, any further increase in inflation would add pressure to discretionary spending this side of Christmas.  However, many retailers are introducing targeted price cuts to regain momentum after a strong summer, so shoppers should start to see a benefit in their shopping baskets.”

Total till sales remained steady year-over-year at 4.1%, which was driven by consumer caution towards rising economic pressures.

Additionally, in-store visits increased by 3.5% as shoppers were looking for promotional discounts, which covered 23% of supermarket sales.